Help with your down payment

How assistance actually works

Down payment assistance is not a separate mortgage program. It is money layered on top of a regular FHA, conventional, VA, or USDA loan to cover some or all of your down payment and sometimes closing costs. It comes in a few shapes:

• Grants, which you never repay.
• Forgivable second liens, which sit behind your mortgage and are forgiven a little at a time as long as you stay in the home for a set number of years.
• Deferred or repayable seconds, which carry no payment or a small one and are paid back when you sell or refinance.
• Programs that pair the assistance with a specific first mortgage, sometimes at pricing a bit above the open market to pay for the help.

Who qualifies

Every program sets its own rules, but they mostly look at the same things:

• Household income under a limit tied to the county's median income
• A purchase price under the program's cap for the area
• A minimum credit score set by the program, on top of whatever the lender requires
• Completion of a homebuyer education course, usually online and a few hours long
• For some programs, first-time buyer status, which generally means you have not owned a home in the last three years
• The home as your primary residence

Texas and Arkansas programs

Texas has statewide programs plus city and county programs, and Arkansas has its own through the state's housing agency and local partners. Some are open to any buyer under the income limit, and some are aimed at teachers, first responders, veterans, or buyers in certain neighborhoods. Funds come and go through the year, and program terms change, so I do not list them here. I keep up with what is open on both sides of the state line and match you to the one that fits your income, your price range, and the loan you are using.

One thing to know: the lender has to be set up with the program, and not all are. That is another place being a broker helps, because I can send your file to a lender that participates.

What to bring

Assistance programs are picky about documentation because public money is involved. Alongside the usual loan paperwork, plan on:

• Income documents for every adult in the household, whether or not they are on the loan
• Your homebuyer education certificate, which I will help you sign up for
• Tax returns for the last two or three years, since many programs verify first-time buyer status that way
• A little extra time. Assistance adds a review step, and I build it into the contract timeline.

What happens next

Call me before you start looking, not after. Knowing which program you fit tells us what price range is realistic and whether the down payment is a problem at all. Some buyers who thought they needed years to save find out they can buy this year. Others learn that a small gift from family plus assistance gets them there. Either way, you will know where you stand before you fall in love with a house.

All loans are subject to credit approval, and program terms vary by lender.